Nexans has been awarded a contract to supply a 500MW subsea high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cable linking Crete and the Greek mainland.
The cable, which will be owned by Greece’s grid operator, will support more wind and solar capacity to be built on the island and export clean electricity to the mainland.
The contract is with Ariadne Interconnection, 100% owned by IPTO, for the design, manufacture and installation of the 335km cable.
Over a 35-month project Nexans will provide one 500MW HVDC subsea cable system to form half of the total 1000MW bipole interconnection.
The cable will be installed at depths of up to 1200 metres.
One of Nexans’ own vessels, either Skagerrak or the new Aurora, will install the cable, which is slated to come online in 2023.
The interconnector will also provide security of supply for Crete – the largest of the Greek islands – as well as help cut carbon emissions.
The island, which hosts up to four million visitors in the summer, currently relies on fossil fuel generation for its electricity supply.
The cable will connect the Attica region on the Greek mainland to the Herakleion area in Crete.
It will be protected by trenching into the seabed using the Nexans Capjet water jetting system down to 600 metres water depth.
The cable will be manufactured in Nexans’ plant in Halden, Norway and potential its Japanese plant in Futtsu.